trying to do it all and live to tell about it

Hog Oyster Island Farm, Marshall, CA

This is our second weekend in a row hosting visitors! It’s fun but exhausting. This weekend, a friend from Boston is in town. We thought it would be fun to check out Hog Oyster Island Farm up in Marshall, CA, just north of Point Reyes. You can reserve a picnic table to shuck your own oysters or just grab one of their community tables and order oysters from the bar.

This friend is sort of the reason why Chris and I are dating since he introduced us. I say sort of because the first night we met, we barely spoke to each other. (Funny how these things play out.) Well he graciously brought us some delicious cupcakes from Kickass Cupcakes, a bakery from Somerville, MA.

I immediately gorged myself when I saw these sweets. This gave us fuel for the weekend and quite possibly a stomachache. I usually don’t eat two donuts and a cupcake in one sitting…lately that is.

Back to the oysters. I am not a big fan of oysters. I’ve only had oysters once in my life and that was last year in Boston when I was at a pig roast of all places.

The guys ordered a couple dozen raw oysters and really liked them. I decided to not have any since I did not enjoy them the last time.

That is until I heard they had barbecued oysters. Then I was intrigued. They smelled and looked so good. It was hard to pass them up!

They were quite tasty (after I got over the psychological fact that I was eating an oyster.) I liked that they were cooked and had a nice grilled flavor to them. I still am not sold on the raw oysters however.

Overall, Hog Oyster Island Farm is a pretty cool place to visit. They had beers for sale and snacks such as bread and cheese. We brought a mini picnic of strawberries, cherries, beets, brie, fig jam, bread, dates, chocolate and a bottle of Riesling. We got there a little before noon and good thing since the place really started to fill up by 1pm. Chris even ran into an old friend from BU! What a small world.

The views also make this an awesome place to hang out. Next time, I hope we can reserve a picnic table so we can get a grill. People were grilling steaks and hot dogs. I can try grilling oysters!